MSNBC chief denies 'leaning towards' Obama like Fox did for Romney

Washington,
Thu, 22 Nov 2012ANI

Washington, Nov. 22 (ANI): MSNBC President Phil Griffin has refuted claims that American network had conducted a biased coverage of the presidential race with views leaning more towards US President Barack Obama.

It comes after a new study published by the Pew Research Center shows how Fox News and MSNBC intensified their political skew in the homestretch of the presidential race between Obama and Republican rival Mitt Romney.

Griffin claimed there are far more contrasts in the coverage of MSNBC and Fox News than parallels.

"One side was cheerleading. When it was over, they struggled because they had totally created this bubble of misinformation. We do honest analysis with, yes, a point of view, but it's honest and our folks called out Obama when he failed but they weren't cheerleading," the Washington Post quoted Griffin, as saying.

According to the study, titled 'Project for Excellence in Journalism' Fox News pumped up its positive coverage of Romney in the race's final week, while MSNBC, following its branded progressive bent, went more positive on Obama.

"[W]hen Romney was receiving negative coverage in the final week from the rest of the press, Fox was different; 42 percent of its segments about him were positive while only 11 percent were negative. This was more positive than the earlier part of October when 34 percent of Fox News' Romney coverage was positive and 9 percent negative," the Washington Post quoted the study, as stating.

"MSNBC moved in the other direction. MSNBC's coverage of Romney during the final week (68 percent negative with no positive stories in the sample), was far more negative than the overall press, and even more negative than it had been during October 1 to 28 when 5 percent was positive and 57 percent was negative," it added. (ANI)